This blog will be used to explore, exchange, and create ideas around 21st century collaborative learning and the environments and tools that make this learning possible--with the big goal of helping teachers and those who prepare teachers redesign teaching and learning for success in the 21st century.

The Title of the post is the same as mine.. Why Are We Here? It follows:

Ok ... Now I've got your attention :)

I've just finished listening to the lastest episode of the "Ed Tech
Live" podcast in which Steve Hargadon interviewed our very own
community leader Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach. This is a great interview in
which Sheryl talks about the PLP and also her background in working
with communities and some of her journey in education.

So if you need a re-charge or need to be re-affirmed why we are all
here, I'd suggest you take a listen (at least the first half of the
podcast!) Well done, Sheryl!

Aww thanks! I had a great time. Glad you enjoyed listening.
Maybe you would like to start a reflective discussion here about
anything that we discussed during that interview that resonated with
you... maybe a question or two!

He followed with several well formed questions that I thought you might interest you- my blogging community. Here is my response to him.

-------------------Thanks for asking such powerful questions. I hope others will weigh in with their experiences as well.

You ask...Like should I respond to as many posts as possible?
(Does this dis-empower other members? Does it scare them off?)

As the community leader you should make sure in the practice posts and
introductions that 100% of member posts get a response from you or someone else.
The thrill of getting a response encourages more participation. After the initial building of capacity it is a give and take in trying to balance your community building efforts and posts.

Remember as a community leader your role is facilitator/instigator-- not teacher. I think
if you respond to posts with questions and use your replies as ways to
bring others into the conversation, that your time is well spent. You do not
want to be seen as the info giver here, rather you want to be the person
that helps community members identify what it is they do well and what
they have to add to the conversations and then help them do so.

Here is a public post from a past PLPer that highlights the feeling of getting a response.

From Lisa:
Boy, they weren’t kidding when they said this would be powerful! From
the very first, I’ve done nothing but learn. I would admit, though,
that a lot of what I’ve learned I had not expected to.
I figured that, by now, I would have gained a great facility with the
tools. I’d know how to maneuver in the Ning; post to forums, read and
organize blogs, create my own blog, etc. Full disclosure demands that I
admit that I’ve never been much of a tool person. I’m not the type to
get a new tool and play with it until I’ve got the whole of its
applications down. But without really knowing what PLP would bring, I
assumed that it would be the tools I would learn – how to use various
features and how to apply them to my learning.
What I’ve come to realize is that, through PLP, we are gaining exposure
to the world that our kids already inhabit easily – and learning in
that environment is not neat and tidy. I wrote my first ning post about
ambiguity and how learning to live – and learn – in an ambiguous world
is not easy. It requires openness to new experiences and letting-go of
my tradition-based ideas of what schooling is. Learning is not linear,
and while I’ve espoused that for years, it wasn’t until this experience
of PLP that I was able to live the non-linear, sometimes frustrating,
always interesting world of a 21st century learner.
I’ve come away from these first two months with a more sophisticated
view of teaching and with a growing empathy for our digital immigrant
teachers, who are wrestling with change and how to navigate themselves
through it.I’ve also experienced the very powerful feeling that comes from
having a ning colleague read my posts, find something in there of use,
and respond in a thoughtful, serious way to my thoughts. Authentic
assessment! Wow, I always knew it was an important concept, but I
didn’t know how it would feel to receive authentic feedback from people
I respect and admire. It feels great!
So, the lessons I’ve learned from PLP have been important ones – and
I’m sure that Will and Sheryl intended for me (and the rest of us) to
have the opportunity to share these same kinds of experiences. For
those who are wondering, “what’s next?” or “when are we actually going
to do something?” I would have to argue that, if you really take a
learning posture – give up your control and your need to feel
industrious – you will find that you are learning. And you have been
all along!------------------------------------

Should I be sending out reminders about contributing and participating?
(Does this annoy people people or prompt people?)

It can be annoying-- but out of sight--out of mind. It is great when
you send out periodic links to great content being created by the
community. What we do at PLP in our year long cohort is to have the
community leader post a blog post on our PLPnetwork site or in a quarterly e-newsletter and we send
those links out in NING. That way we are celebrating and recognizing
folks for the good work they do which usually makes others want to
participate more.

When you think of community as a place where a group of people make a
commitment to each other to grow together and improve over time in
their practice (teaching) and each team and each team member
understands their role in collectively making the community successful,
then the reminders are a welcomed intrusion.

Shepherding a community is different than being part of a network.
Network connections have no expectations in terms of collective inquiry
and improvement. They are what they are. But community is different.
Communities have a purpose and understand that the best way to
accomplish that purpose is to reflect, build, and grow together.

During norm setting with your community you could offer that regular reminders would be sent as a courtesy and in return the group agrees to not get annoyed.

Should I be encouraging members publicly or through private messages? Or both?

I love this one. You would NOT believe the amount of work that goes on
behind the scenes in communities. You should encourage, recognize and celebrate
often in f2f, synchronous and asynchronous ways. Also, find those in
your community who have a gifting in encouragement and dub them with
the role of Encourager. In a healthy community, you create a loose
governance in the beginning and then part of the role of the leaders is
to nurture leadership from the members. Natural leaders emerge over the
months and designated leaders should recognize their abilities and share the load
of shepherding. Community leaders should quickly become community members.

Bottom line-- We look at who is in the room and what strengths and
gifting they bring to the table. Then we decide, as a community, what possibilities we
want to tackle and who has the capacity to help us. The purpose of
team's sharing projects is so that others who have wisdom, time,
experience, or resources can offer to help. A team problem becomes a community problem. Transparent, deep, reflection
nurtured through critical inquiry is what learning in a community is
all about.

Bielaczyc & Collins (1999) identify the defining quality of a learning community as one in which:

...there is a culture of learning, in which everyone is involved in a
collective effort of understanding. There are four characteristics that
such a culture must have: (1) diversity of expertise among its members,
who are valued for their contributions and given support to develop,
(2) a shared objective of continually advancing the collective
knowledge and skills, (3) an emphasis on learning and how to learn, and
(4) mechanisms for sharing what is learned. If a learning community is
presented with a problem, then the learning community can bring its
collective knowledge to bear on the problem. It is not necessary that
each member assimilate everything the community knows, but each should
know who within the community has relevant expertise to address any
problem. (Bielaczyc & Collins, p. 272)

Should I be adding lots of content?
(What effect does this have on member contributions?)

You add a little as a way to model and to be a good community member.
However, your more important role is to build into your community
design ways for others to add content and co-create and evolve over
time. The reason we use community leaders, fellows, experienced voices,
team leaders, and team members is so we are all sharing and adding
content in different ways.

Your intuition is right. If you have one person always adding content,
then it is seen as a top down initiative and members will slip back into
the 20th C pattern of passive learning.

As to your last comment--

So I suppose it's about trying to work out the balance with
participation that best grows the community. And I wonder if it's
different with a group of adults? I assume we'd do more modeling etc
with students? What do you consider 'best practice'?

Adult learning theory is different and new notions are
emerging as our learning landscape shifts. But in a participatory
culture and as we shift our classroom structures to community
structures, I think we will find that community is community, and while
the passionate interests and discussions may change the model holds
true for kids or adults.

Here are some graphics that I created for some work I did with Intel that may help in your
understanding. (The pics are copyrighted- so please give attribution if you use them.)

I sure hope others will weigh in and share what they
know or believe to be true from their experience or-- maybe ask some
more questions. I am a co-learner in this and VERY interested in what you have found to be true.

August 01, 2009

I have been thinking a lot about how to manage the needed change process in education. Looks like a lot of folks have been playing with that idea as well. ISTE released their new NETS for ADMIN framing it as having the potential for -

Transforming Education- Administrators play a pivotal role in determining how well technology
is used in our schools. The NETS for Administrators enable us to define
what administrators need to know and be able to do in order to
discharge their responsibility as leaders in the effective use of
technology in our schools.

And take a look they are NOT too shabby when thinking about the characteristics leaders need to reform education in today's fast changing world.

The rub for me comes in when I try and look at these and other efforts to "transform" education and wonder if we aren't really just talking about reform- small principled changes that look at change as we always have - through the lens of problem solving.

REFORM usually means changing procedures, processes, and technologies with the intent of improving the performance for exisiting operating systems. The aim is to make existing systems more effective at doing what they have been always been intended to do.

TRANSFORMATION is intended to make it possible to do things that have never been done by the organization undergoing the transformation. It involves metamorphosis: changing from one form to another form entirely. In organizational terms, transformation almost always involves repositioning and reorienting action by putting the organization into a new business or adopting a radically different means of doing the work it has traditionally done. Transformation by necessity includes altering the beliefs, values, and meanings- the culture- in which programs are embedded, as well as changing the current system of rules, roles, and relationships- social structure- so that the innovations needed will be supported.

REFORM in contrast, means only installing innovations that will work within the context of the existing structure and culture of schools.

During a recent PLP Bootcamp I posed the following question to the attendees.

So as you develop your vision for leading in the 21st Century how do you see it- should you be a reformer or a transformer and why? Make a case for using one or the other as a change strategy.

I was really surprised at the passion in the responses supporting reform. Here is a sample-

Transforming, without careful consideration of a vision and steps required to achieve the vision, can lead to chaos and be counter productive. I recognize that change can and will emerge from chaos. However, I am cautious in placing students and staff into situations, without some insightful thinking and an understanding of an explicit goal(s), because the implications of change without thoughtfulness and explicitness, even in the short term can be detrimental. Change requires careful and responsible thinking to inform action.

And another-

I think for my school and the circumstances I find there, I am more a reformer than a transformer. The school has an ingrained culture that is sort of self-satisfied. But I think there is a desire by many to improve the existing system, and that includes the uses of these technological tools.

Interestingly enough not one educational leader in attendance spoke out for transformation. Probably because transformation is so risky. Whenever leaders tinker with values, technique and skills things get messy.But is reformation of our schools enough? Will 21st Century reform bring schools to where they need to be to meet the needs of the 21st Century citizen and learner?

Peter Block in his new book, Community- the Structure of Belonging suggests that transformation is the only way we will create a future distinct from the past. Peter suggests that the current context supports the belief that the future will be improved with new policies, more oversight, and stronger leadership. However, creating a future is different from defining a future.
PROBLEM SOLVERSAs reformist we typically ID a problem we want to address, fix, or improve. Next, we study and analyze the need by gathering data and making a compelling case for change. Then, we search for solutions, looking for examples of how others have addressed this issue. We bring in experts, consultants, academics to offer advice. Once that is done we establish goals and initiate a pilot project to validate our strategy. We bring others on board creating buy-in and the launch the program. Next, we measure and hold people accountable for results and showing outcomes. Finally, we loop back. We take what we learn about what's not working and adjust, starting the problem solving process a new.

Block feels that these classic problem solving steps are fueled by the belief that "to make a difference in the world is to define problems and needs and then recommend actions to solve those needs." This resonates with me as I think back to my days as a district administrator and remember a culture that demanded that each meeting I attended (and they were seemingly endless) had to end with an action plan type "to-do" list. We wanted measurable outcomes that somehow justified the time we spent solving problems. We believed that only if we had better or more leadership, programs, funding, expertise, studies, training, and master plans then we could reform education in ways that prepare this next generation- digital citizens of a global economy fueled by connections and collaboration- for the world that awaits them. But is anything really changing? For all our conversation and sharing and meetings and action plans are we seeing a significant shift? We keep trying harder at the very things that just gives us more of what we already have. These are the steps to improvement but not transformation.

So I am curious- what do you think? Should we be focusing on a different conversation than the one we are having? Should we be reinvisioning education in ways that are radically different? And if so- How do we move from talking to doing? Or is that important?

Personally, I believe that the secret to change lies in developing the social fabric, capacity and connectedness found in communities of practice and learning networks. I believe that by focusing on a strengths-based model of education, looking at possibilities rather than problems, by using inquiry to ask the kinds of questions that reveal the gifts each of us bring to the table, by realizing that "none of us is as good as all of us" and somehow leveraging all of that to shift the conversations toward building a new future- one that focuses on the gifts each teacher, student, parent and leader has, that we have all we need to create an alternative future for schools. One that focuses on the well-being of the whole and uses diversity as a means to innovation.

May 25, 2009

"It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not." James Gordon, M.D."Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."King Whitney Jr.

As a year of helping districts and schools manage change comes to a close, I understand more than ever that leading a successful change
effort is a hands-on, fully engaged job. One which often kept me from doing other things I love. It has been two months since my last blog post. I have missed blogging and reflecting here with you- because my personal path for change and growth comes from sharing, reflecting and constructing knowledge here with you.

I have learned a lot this year, but what stands out most clearly is that to change an organization, its people
must see their roles in it differently. If we focus on the people,
and how they change themselves, organizations change more quickly.

CHANGE IS GENERALIZABLE

Some of you know I bought a house this year. Pretty big change for me and mine. Then I got this crazy idea that I would remodel the home. So we gutted the kitchen, den, and dining room. Knocking down walls and starting at scratch. It has been a time of renewal. The other day it occured to me that the frustration, redefining, and hard work I am experiencing through this process (which has been going on since February- change takes time) is generalizable to the organizational and personal change efforts Will and I have been leading with PLP.

Preparing for Change

For change to take hold and redefine people and the places they live and grow there needs to be a time of inquiry, reflection, and visioning.

When I moved into this house I knew I wanted to change it. I started with imagery. I started looking at possible images and examples of what I wanted this house to become; scourging the Web, my networks and books and magazines for stories of others who had transformed their homes into more updated and functional spaces. Because I understood the culture of our family I was instinctively drawn to options that would work for us. Interestingly enough many of the changes I wanted to make came from a schematic building of ideas I had been collecting since childhood. Some of the changes were for fun and "cool" factor, some were to make the home more functional and relevant, some were to create a sense of beauty and well being and some were to support the social aspects of my life and to connect to the future- my children and their children.

Once I had some basic ideas I began to reflect and think and share. I would sit in a room quietly and observe, vision, and play with concepts. Then I would bring others in the room and elaborate my vision and ask for their opinions and ideas. I asked lots of questions. Then I took the new information and reworked my plans incorporating the ideas I liked best. Constantly, I was using the "wisdom of the crowd" to shape and reshape my vision. I brought family members into the planning to garner buy-in and collaboratively we created a shared vision. Every time there was a disagreement and a storm of ideas and opinions colliding I reminded myself this was part of the process and that out of diversity would come innovation.

Once I had a clearer vision of what the principled changes needed to be to make this home more relevant in our lives, now and in the future, I committed it to paper. In some cases where I knew I had limited knowledge, like the landscaping, I hired an expert designer to actually draw up some plans to follow. I worked for weeks with the designer to make sure the options we chose were the ones that would fit best with the needs of our family. It is important that as you are reculturing you consider best fit and how lives will be impacted in the most positive way from the changes you are about to make.

Getting the Right People on the Bus

Finding the right people is important. I needed to have a team that was willing to take risks. One that was not daunted easily. One that didn't mind learning new things and being innovative. I needed a team that would not bend and give me what I thought I wanted in a time of weakness but rather would hold true to the vision. I needed team members with skill and expertise who were networked and could bring in other experts to help us deliver. I needed a team that was in it for the long haul and who would pay attention to detail. I wanted team members who understood this project was going to be transformational and as a result joined me in pursuing excellence.

I needed to make sure I had not only the right people on my team but enough people to get the job done in a timely manner.

Keeping the Momentum Up and Not Giving Up

The toughest part of the change process with this house has been keeping the momentum and the dream of the transformation alive. I have had contractors in my house since February. Dust, debris clutter, noise, parking issues, inconveniences are all part of the messiness of change. Dealing with the ambiguity has been tough too. There are times I wanted to throw in the towel and thought as outdated as the home was at least there was peace and comfort. I questioned if I did the right thing. And in the demolition phase I reminded myself of the implementation dip- that things will look worse before they get better, and that the end result will not be chaos, but rather peace and improved and better for all.

Fear is a big part of it too. Especially in these tough economic times. Am I spending money that should be allocated somewhere else? Should I be saving this money for a "just in-case" moment or is what I am investing going to payoff? Trust is another issue. Do the experts I have hired to make these changes a reality have the know how and wisdom to make it all happen- or was it just talk? When all around me looks overwhelming, can they lead us out of the chaos and confusion into the shared vision we have developed?

It was the talking, visioning, revisioning, and reflecting that kept this change project alive and moving forward. It was interesting to me that as one task of the mission was completed, the next change needed would become obvious. Change motivates and reveals the need for more change.

Lessons Learned

When one group fails to perform their piece of the change process it sets everyone back.

Relationships need to be negotiated along the way.

Resources need to be examined closely and also negotiated creatively.

Risks need to be considered and in some cases pieces of the plan need to be abandoned while others move on to phase 2.

Celebrate and document the progress and changes along the way. Recognize those who are working hard. Reward and credit those who deserve it. Nurture those who need help.

Not everyone on your team has pure motives for change. Some see the change as an opportunity for wealth and power rather than the goal of helping those who will be living out the change. Deal with this diplomatically.

This experience has reminded me of a reality TV show at times- intense with drama and life. It is almost surreal. But change produces movement and turbulence. And turbulence is life force. It is opportunity.

Comparisons

So as I wrote about the change process with my home I could clearly see the comparison to the changes organizations and individuals go through with 21st Century reform. Can you? I would love for us to discover them together here in the comments. Please share your ideas- how does what I describe above compare?

March 16, 2009

This was posted on the NSDC Website- felt you might find it s interesting as I do.

The Department of Education has outlined
initial guidelines for three components of American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) funding: the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Title I, and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). You can find detailed
information about the guidelines and the distribution of funds through
www.ed.gov.

In addition to distributing monies quickly
to avert layoffs and stimulate job creation, a key principle that will guide
the use of ARRA funds is improving student achievement through school
improvement and reform. The Department is emphasizing improvements in teacher
effectiveness and equitable distribution of qualified teachers as well as
providing support for the nation's lowest performing schools. Specifically, the
legislation identifies developing teacher leaders as coaches and instructional
leaders as one possible strategy. Therefore, these funds have the potential to
significantly impact the reach and quality of professional learning for all
educators. Given the time constraints surrounding this legislation, the funds
must be used on one-time investments vs. programs with ongoing commitments. Most
importantly, these funds must be applied in ways that demonstrate to the
investors --the public -- a significant improvement in teaching and learning in
schools.

In consideration of these parameters, NSDC
has outlined some strategies that we believe have potential to meet these
expectations:

Prepare more instructional coaches by
developing the knowledge and skills necessary to support improved educator
practice and student learning.

Prepare more teacher leaders to advance the
NSDC definition of professional development.

Contract with one or more external
consultants to provide one-on-one technical assistance to principals to create
new master schedules that enable collaborative teacher teams to engage in
professional learning two or more times each week.

Identify and support demonstration sites to
serve as models of excellence in implementing effective professional learning.

Provide two-years of intensive coaching and
instructional leadership support for principals in low-performing schools.

Provide two-years of intensive technical
assistance and support for leadership teams in low-performing schools.

Conduct a Professional Learning Audit;
organize a local task force to critically review and assess the purpose, form,
and results from professional development in the school district. Similarly,
administer and use the results of NSDC's Standards Assessment Inventory.

Organize, facilitate, and support volunteer
teams of teachers who want to pilot the continuous cycle of improvement
described in NSDC's definition of professional development. Contract with one
or more external consultants or institutions of higher education to document
and assess each team's experience.

Providing Quality Professional Development and Career OptionsProfessional Development Although there are many professional development opportunities made available for educators, the question remains whether these opportunities are targeted to improve teacher effectiveness. Targeted professional development requires the creation and implementation of a quality teacher evaluation system, as discussed below. The remaining challenge in professional development is to determine what opportunities states should offer and require. If a quality evaluation system is in place, information should be available to guide the offerings based on areas of challenge within the teaching community—either areas of individual challenge or topics from which a larger teaching population can benefit.Examples of professional development focused on individual challenges include the following:•Training and support to strengthen content knowledge•Training in pedagogical techniques

Examples of professional development beneficial to a larger teaching population include the following:•Research or technological advances or brain research advances that could affect teaching and learning•Information or training specific to the context in which educators are functioning—large populations of English language learners or schools with a large population of culture/ethnic diversity.Consistent findings enumerate the characteristics of quality professional development. When analyzing their professional development offerings, states should ensure that they embody these characteristics:•Intensive and ongoing•Job embedded•Job relevant•Linked to school vision and mission

Career OptionsToo often career options for teachers mean that advancement in their careers takes them out of the classroom. School districts and states should implement career opportunities that provide roles and opportunities for expert teachers that allow them to share their experience, knowledge, and skills to benefit the school and classrooms.

These types of roles could include the following:•Creating teacher leadership opportunities in which teachers have a voice in policy and practice•Utilizing excellent teachers as mentors

Creating Learning CommunitiesNumerous content- and pedagogy-related professional development offerings already exist in states. Increasingly, however, the creation of learning communities or communities of practice is identified as a positive professional development experience for teachers. States should work to analyze the policies and requirements in place for professional development and the processes by which they determine what professional development to offer and whether it has the characteristics listed above. In addition, states should consider whether they are too narrowly defining professional development in a manner that precludes the creation and support of learning communities and other collaborative learning opportunities for teachers.Powerful Learning Practice Meets the Mark
The work Will and I are doing through Powerful Learning Practice meets most of these requirements. If you are looking for a strategic way to spend your PD dollars this may be a way to do that not only meets the NSDC's criteria for best practice but is grounded in Teacher Quality research and results in transformational change.

You can get all of the details here, but the bottom line is we’ve put together a three-day event for a limited number (25) of participants that we think will help school principals and superintendents get a deep understanding of how the world is shifting, identify and articulate the challenges that we face, begin some serious conversations about long term change in personal and classroom practice, and create a foundation for long range planning.

We’re really pleased that Chris Lehmann will be our host for the three days and that he will be among a group of forward thinking leaders who will share their experiences and expertise with us. We hope you (or your school leader) will join us!

I wanted to let you know about a new program that is being hosted by Threadless which is a community-centered tee-shirt company based out of Chicago, IL called Threadless 101.

The
idea is this: students are given an assignment to create an original
design for a tee-shirt-any and all specifications are up to the
teacher! Their designs are critiqued and voted for by their classmates,
and the student with the highest score will not only be featured in the
Threadless newsletter, but will also receive a Threadless gift
certificate. Once the assignment is completed and the winning design
has been selected for the class, students can easily upload their
design to the Threadless site to be included in our regular
design challenge to get their tee actually printed. If their design is
selected, they will receive a $3,000 tax-free scholarship and $500 each
time their tee-shirt is re-printed.

Threadless 101 has just been successfully completed in 3 pilot programs across the United States.

Please let me know
if you would like more information about this program and if you could
maybe sneak in a post about it on your blog!

February 21, 2009

It has become apparent to me that I have raised a family with strong geek tendencies and I find it quite endearing. Don't get me wrong, we are all cultured and our interests range from the arts to medicine but deep down we are way techno-geek and nerdy about our passions.

Case in point- my son's recent letter to me.

Mom,

I have created a spreadsheet of To Do’s for me for the new
house along with description and tentative due dates. Hopefully this will help
expedite the situation and get the work done. Let me know if any of this doesn’t
work for you. Love you.

His spreadsheet is below. This is typical of how we communicate within our family about the various projects we are working on. I hope to share some before and almost done project pics on the new house for those of you who are interested in seeing what we are creating together in my family of Geeks.

So what kind of emails do you get from your 22 year old son? Is your family in touch with its inner geek?

February 12, 2009

The following is a repost from Jenny Luca one of our PLP Fellows from Australia.

Bottom line- Get your students involved. Join the Working together Site, raise some money, and donate to help rebuild schools and help Australia's students. (left hand column of the site has a PayPal button for donations.

Yesterday I posted here about the fires affecting Victoria, the State I, and other members of our cohort, live in here in Australia. Here is what I posted on my blog and the Working together 2 make a difference site tonight.

Yesterday I posted about the natural disaster that has ravaged the Victorian countryside. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach read my post and offered to help in any way she could. My good friend Angela Stockman, who I collaborate with on Working together 2 make a difference, also wanted to know what she could do to help. Here we have two Americans reaching out to assist those in a country very distant from their own. Why do they want to help? Firstly no doubt, because they are sensitive people with a desire to assist their fellow citizens of the world. Perhaps they are motivated also because they have formed connections through these networks we are working in and feel a link to a country far from their own.

Sheryl spoke with me tonight and has committed to help me, Angela and other educators who may wish to join us, to do whatever it is we can to raise funds to support those in need. The Red Cross has coordinated a fundraising effort here in Australia. What we are encouraging you to do is to join Working together 2 make a difference and post your efforts there. We will set up a paypal account that will direct the monies you raise to the Red Cross appeal. Here’s what I’ve posted on the Working together 2 make a difference site to enocurage participation;

Victoria, the State I live in in Australia, has been hit by a tragic natural disaster that is affecting the lives of many of our country communities. On Saturday the 7th of Feb., bushfires, fanned by fierce northerly winds in 46 degree celcius temperatures, ravaged our countryside, leading to the deaths of 173 people. This figure is http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/10/2487517.htm?section=a...”>expected to rise to over 200 in the coming days as they gain access to affected areas and search homes. Native animals, livestock and family pets were other victims of this disaster.

So how can we all make a difference? We would love to see our education community from near and far band together to support the communities in need. What is needed is money to help schools rebuild, families rebuild their lost homes and for communities to build the infrastructure needed that has been lost in these fires.

What can you do? Anything that will help your students to understand the need to help others when the situation is dire. Be it a sausage sizzle, free dress day, bake sale, whatever it takes to raise a few dollars that can be used to support others. In the next few days, with the help of Sheryl Nussbaum Beach and some wisdom fron Clarence Fisher, we’ll be setting up a paypal account to direct funds you raise to the Red Cross appeal that has been set up to support those affected. Create a page here and let us know your plans. We can support one another and link our schools to a common cause. Let’s show the world how the education community can use the tools at our disposal to connect and support one another for a common purpose.

So, wherever you are in the world, think about helping out those in need here in Australia. And let’s see just how small our world really is when we connect using these tools for the common good.

We would love to see our cohort rally to support this cause. It will be a wonderful example of the power of these networked connections and their ability to form community that cares and supports one another. Think about what your school can do to help. It doesn't have to be huge, but whatever it is, it will make a difference. Go and visit Working together 2 make a difference and see what you can co.

February 09, 2009

In a family or community when some of us hurt- we all hurt. When some of us succeed we all celebrate.

Many of those in our community from Australia are hurting. We need to stand with them in this time of crisis. I got this letter today. I have stripped the identifiers to protect privacy. I simply wanted to share to create an awareness that will inspire us to some collective action.Hi all,

Just need to share this ... for those overseas - more
than 130 people died in a bushfire on Saturday and the death toll is
still rising.

On Saturday, we (my colleagues and friends)
lost one of our students in the Bushfire - I taught him from Year 8
through to Year 12 - he got the best score in IT Apps for my class last
year. He stayed with his parents to protect their home and all three
perished - his older brother and sister weren't home at the time. He
was a school prefect, involved in musicals and drama productions, a
great student and topped many subjects. Many of last year's Yr 12s
came in today and the school community is devestated.

Also, one of my colleagues who retired 2 years ago and his wife
have not been heard of since Saturday, so we are fearing the worst for
him - his kids were taught at the school making it even more difficult.

A
new student to the school was very upset this morning and when I took a
closer look, it was the daughter of someone I knew (not very well).
When I enquired, it turns out her father wasn't responding to phone
calls and hadn't been heard of for quite some time. Her mother picked
her up and they went to look for him.

Hopefully, tomorrow brings some closure on these missing people.

Many
families and kids lived in the area and were on high alert over the
weekend and continue to be on high alert. Buses aren't running, so
they can't get to school. Many have lost their homes, livestock,
businesses, etc. 3 colleagues lost their homes while about 15 - 20
families lost their homes.

The back of the school property (a back paddock) got burnt which
makes me wonder whether our emergency plan good enough if it escalated.

It was a tough day speaking to kids in class today and they told
stories about their situation or family or friends not heard of or
losing everything. The devestation is amazing.

While we
don't live too close, we are close enough to hear the choppers, smell
the smoke, see the haze and be aware that if the wind shifted in our
direction for long enough from the wrong angle, there are many green
(or dry) wedges that could put our house under ember attack. Fire plan
is to just pick up the kids and animals and leave. Let's hope it
doesn't get to this.This sort of day makes you remember to live each day like it's your last.

February 08, 2009

I had the opportunity recently to facilitate a group of business, education, political and community leaders in a discussion about developing a workforce ready group of graduates in the 21st Century.

I was given the task of relaying the experience. I have decided to share with you to see if you agree or disagree with these leaders' ideas and action steps and why. I encourage you to read and weigh in in the comment section below. I look forward to your responses.

Executive Summary

Newport News Public Schools is moving quickly to address
learning in the 21st century, its barriers and its possibilities,
and kicked things off for 2009 with a 21st Century Leading and
Learning Conference.

As a precursor to the conference, held Jan. 9-10, 2009 at
Heritage High School, global and regional leaders in education, business and
religious organizations met to brainstorm together 21st century
learning concepts in a Global ThinkTank.

An electronic global panel discussion kicked off the day’s
events with an impressive group of thought leaders from Scotland, Thailand, and
the U.S. logging in to Elluminate, a webinar software platform, to share their
ideas and answer questions. Bios of the
guest speakers can be found here. An
archive of the conversation that took place can be found here.

In the following facilitated discussions, leaders were given
a chance to voice their opinions about what they saw as barriers to
implementation of 21st Century workforce readiness and a
re-culturing of our curriculum to meet the needs of today’s changing student.

Through the economic lens, business leaders expressed a need
for 21st century students to not only be prepared for the technology
of the changing world, but to still grasp soft skills needed in the workforce,
such as problem solving and leadership skills.

Education leaders saw disconnect between teacher preparation
programs and the changing learning environment. High stakes testing was seen as
another barrier to learning in the 21st century.

After the facilitated discussions, leaders were asked to
come up with proactive recommendations to the barriers addressed. From this
long list, leaders filtered and organized their recommendations under different
categories and then ranked the categories by the most important in their
opinion. Some of the top ranked categories included leadership development,
cultural awareness, professional/teacher development, partnerships/community
involvement and student curriculum.

Empowering educators through leadership development,
building relationships and cultural awareness, training and modeling were some
of the most recommended steps to overcoming the barriers.

Out of the discussions recommended action statements
emerged:

- Inventory the technological skills already available in
the division to identify and address gaps.

- Ask students to teach the teachers how they use technology
and how they see these tools being used in a classroom.

- Allow teacher experts to train other teachers so there is
no additional cost involved in the training. The business community can also
provide in-kind support by providing training in these technologies.

- Build cultural awareness and infuse relevance into our instruction
by teaching educators and students the facts of our global economy and
community.

- Teach educators the importance of and how to build their
own online personal learning networks as a 21st Century networking
literacy leveraged for student growth.

- Teach students how to develop their own personal learning
networks and discriminate information value and organization.

- Use technology to access and examine current events from
various world perspectives through original sources and global connections.

- Teach the whole child by using inquiry driven approaches
that reexamine curriculum through a 21st Century lens.

- Work on belief systems, so that they produce citizens who can meet the challenges of this world
with confidence and embrace all its people with compassion.

- Develop leadership networks that collaboratively function
as professional learning communities to address and solve barriers to learning.
These networks would include administrators, teachers, school staff, community
and business leaders, and student leaders in the district, state and world.

Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Lead a Group In addition to the facilitated focus groups that addressed
21st Century issues, one group of community leaders also had the
privilege of interviewing a special guest and Nobel Peace Prize
nominee, Rebiya Kadeer. A copy of the transcript of her interview can be found
in Appendix E.

To review all data collected at the Global ThinkTank please
refer to the following appendices:

Appendix A – Participants List- Removed

Appendix B – Round Robin Discussions

Appendix C – Categorization of Ideas

Appendix D – Crafts of Recommendations

Appendix E – Interview with Rebiya Kadeer

Appendix F – Panel Discussion Archive

Appendix B – Round
Robin Discussions

After breaking down
into groups, participants engaged in round robin discussions of the barriers to
21st century learning. They responded to the question, “Thinking in
terms of the skills, knowledge, abilities and opportunities needed to prepare
today’s students for the 21st century workforce – what are the
barriers that are currently keeping this from happening in our classroom and
community?” One participant acted as scribe for the group, recording responses,
while another facilitated the discussion. The notes from these discussions are
reprinted below.

Group A

Round Robin Notes:

Financial Constraints are a barrier especially when we look
at the technology budget.

There is not enough investment from all of our
organizations.Exposure and experiences
are another part of 21st century that our students are not getting.Critical and Creative thinking is a big part
of children’s learning.

We got away from the basic skills.We still need to be able to read, write and
do multiplication tables.Attitudes
start at home and are nurtured at school regarding the importance of learning.
No matter whether their disposition is to go to college or not, these skills
are important and you are not a failure if you don’t go to college.And students ought not be stigmatized because
they want to be a carpenter.We ought to
help kids know what they want to do and then help them do it and not stigmatize
them if that means they don’t go to college.

We are only allowing kids that can’t do to go to vocational
classes.

NNPS has the burden of raising children because of societal
issues.So now schools have to be
responsible for social development too.

Skills, Attitude and Disposition don’t cost a lot of money.

We underestimate kids’ ability to learn.Expectations build the attitude that is
needed.

There needs to be a better cultural awareness across schools
and business and finances need to be available.Students need to be geared towards their interests not just
college.Tools to help students know their
interests are needed and the finances to provide them need to be there.

You can’t just work with the students and then send them
back out in the community.It needs to
be a community effort.

Young people have built their own community through
technology.Social networking, texting,
etc.We need to pick up on the skills
our kids have and build on that with kids.

As an instructor and parent, I am dealing with fear, not
knowing what the kids are doing.Amazement at kids’ ability to write a report, listen to iTunes andtext all at the same time.How uncomfortable are educators and
parents.

Importance of educating our community…

Money is a problem.We don’t have enough equipment.Teachers are afraid that they are going to break the equipment.They have to have critical thinking
skills.We are bad about the SOL’s but
they have to be able to think.It is
more than rote memorization.

Consensus Issues:Money issues, Critical Thinking, Tapping into the knowledge base of
students around technology.

Group B

I asked the question in the classroom of how our bureaucracy
hinders us.“Every school should be
looked at as an independent franchise.”So students and staff in the building has a sense of ownership.Mediocre has become acceptable in this
country.I’m a stickler for more
independent in the public structure.Empower the individual school.

The current structure is interrupting the learning
potential.

I’m coming from a different background.I’m new to education.“My insight is four years out of high
school.I wish I had this in my high
school.Why didn’t we have smart boards
in high school or college?”A lot of
school board members are stuck in how school s use to be.If we focus on that point that people are
still involved in this process.Teachers
and students will be more willing to learn. A fear of learning something new
seems to prevent the progression of the 21st century concept.A Student’s perspective.

Kids who start of in school are excited in the elementary
level and by the time they get to high school they are brain dead.“Why am I learning this?” Teachers have
technology in front of them, but they don’t have the role models to know how to
use it in the workforce arena because the have nothing to relate to. “We have
to train our teachers to learn and teach in a different way.”Relationship, relevance and investment.When kids fall in love with learning it’s
because they see the relevance.

A lot of what kids learn in the old way of learning is not
relevant to what is happening in the real world.It doesn’t mean necessary learning technology
it means teaching kids so it’s meaningful. “We tend to teach kids how we were
taught.”Change is feared. Our
perspective is what limits our growth.One of the largest bearers is not teaching kids collaboratively.

“For us to see this type of education is amazing.We do not sit and discuss education in
China.In US a child can study any
subject they chose.That is not the case
in China.The Chinese education system
only praises the Chinese government.”Embrace change! American students should understand how fortunate they
are and become global citizens to see how they can make the world a better
place.Later I was in prison for
speaking about lack of human rights in education.It is very important for me to let the
children know in America how fortunate they are.

Besides the global competitive gap we need to get our kids to understand
the global haves and have-nots.We have
to compete and support in service projects, awareness projects, etc.

Change is the wall that we need to overcome. “If we
introduce it the right way it enables one to overcome the obstacles.”Everyone needs to model from top down. . .
.Principals model to teachers, teachers model to students, etc.

What points of consensus emerged in the discussion? The need
to learn, teach, train and communicate not only within our community but
throughout the world.

On which points were the participants’ responses
divided?none

On which points did participants reveal a wide range of
responses?Student learning, cultural
awareness, exposure and appropriate modeling, best practices

Group C

In the classroom, too much emphasis on lower levels of
learning due to standardized testing occurring- incredible peer pressure for
kids to fit in instead of being individuals. “Kids need knowledge” but we teach
facts, but not how they connect to their world.”

A barrier for SPED pop is transition. I like European out of
the box thinking. “Keep the bar up, but we know were the students is heading.”
Look at the child’s ability and go that track. Train them so they are
vocationally sound by the time they exit school (rather than pushing them to be
college bound – when we know they may not be).

A barrier I see is a conformative mentality. We have lost
the sense of being an individual. It is not sportsmanship or working as a team.
WE have lost a sense of civility. We are not working in teams or offering
assistance. Emphasis on SOLs, NCLB, - schools, teachers, principals are
evaluated on how kids score on a mc test – critical thinking skills is missing.
“The soft-skills of team-work and problem solving need to be part of our
education to be ready for the work force.We need situational leaders in addition to supervisors, etc. Know when
to lead, when to step back, be cross-functional”

Barriers:homelife –
a major part for students who don’t have the support structures at home =
community issue

School issue = playing the blame game on parents/community

Not all children learn the same way – we teach like they
only learn one way. We teach in the same classroom environment as the one from
the civil war. We need to convert the methodology of teaching to using the
tools kids use today. = relevance!

Kids don’t believe their teachers care about them. So many
distractions/baggage in the classroom. Teachers need to be thoughtful and think
in terms to being able to relate to a particular student who is different or
struggling…the teacher is influential –one of the most influential people in
children’s lives. Engagement between teacher and student is critical piece. All
the kids aren’t likeable – but they are all human beings, need to have a
future. I am not casting aspersions on all teachers, but teachers need to get
into the lives of kids – go beyond the content.

Kids cannot relate what they are doing in the classroom that
day to the future. There needs to be a connection – this is why dropouts occur.
Serious systemic challenges

Serious concern with the SOLs being the end all, be all of
education. And it shouldn’t be.If pass
rates are high – teachers/students feel a certain sense of fulfillment – but
the SOLs are a minimum competency assessment – they are not enough to prepare
kids for the future.

Not enough articulation between colleges and public schools
– teacher prep programs. 1st year teachers often enter the teaching
field ill prepared for the reality of teaching and learning in the 21st
century. There is also a disconnect in the classroom in the classroom to the
real world = relevance.There is no
questions about the fact that we have different societal practices as before
but we cannot let community “situations” interfere with teaching kids.

Global, 21st century is exciting, but we have to
pedal furiously like ducks on a pond.

Lack of training, experiences and connectedness between
teacher prep training and teaching reality.

From a SPED perspective, one of the barriers is isolation.
If you are the only teacher certified in a certain disability in a building, it
can be very isolating.The emulation
exercise could be an interesting way to connect people via technology.

Lost sight of vocational side of education (for SPED
students). Unrealistic expectations for students based on their abilities.

The preparation of elementary school teacher = 20 hours of
elementary ed. We only test knowledge, not can the teach the knowledge. Does
that teacher know how to communicate to that kid and teach him?

Deficit model – we cannot give up on the children, let them
drop out and it becomes a community problem.

Teacher quality is critical – do they know the content? Do
they know the pedagogy?

Key barriers

“Trust, communication, team work, caring and vision are
missing”.Issues: “we can’t give up on
kids”

We can predict a roadmap of a student (in school, in
community) – we see it coming – there needs to be something we can do to
prevent it from happening.

Prisons predict future jail population based on 3rd
grade reading pass rates of the SOL.

Most issues were agreed upon by all----

Group D

Barriers to 21st
Century Learning

Guiding Question:
Thinking in terms of the skills, knowledge, abilities and the opportunities
needed to prepared today’s student for the 21st century workforce,
what are the barriers that are currently keeping this from happening in our
classrooms and community?

Respondent 1:

Part of barrier in our community – most of the businesses in
our community are not global minded at this time – fear if school system goes
ahead, businesses are not going to be ready for the students when they come out
of school, her company builds buildings and the global market doesn’t impact
what they do on a daily basis – is a progressive student going to be satisfied
with what her company has to offer,” I can see there being problems”, students
coming out today seeing everything as flexible time as opposed to working
standard hours – doesn’t feel there is currently a demand for a supply of
technologically advanced students – are they going to be more attracted outside
the city of NN – not opposed to what the education system is doing just afraid
of the outcomes

Respondent 2:

Colleges and university teaching 1950’s education – works
with leadership and universities to redesign teacher and leadership programs –
colleges and universities not training teachers to teach in 21st
cent mindset – works with school division leaders as well – just redesigned the
principal leadership program – school districts are far ahead of colleges and
universities – until we get colleges and univ.’s in line with school divisions,
were not going to get there

Respondent 3:

One barrier is our history and educational bureaucracy – not
preparing teachers as we are preparing students – 21st cent.
Learning is larger than just the tools – values and work ethic – that is part
of the 21st century skill set as soft skills – schools are still
subscribing to minimum competency based standards that is scary concept–
economy is a barrier to the success of 21 c learning over the net few years

Respondent 4:

– this area loosing many of its best and brightest – the
numbers support that concept that there isn’t as much of a demand – we loose a
percentage of our brightest college candidates to other states because the jobs
aren’t here – while we focus so much on the tools of technology, there is a
loss of values, social skills, personal interactions, teaching respect, but we
can’t loose sight of trying to help our students learn how to get along – the
heart of how we learn to move our schools forward

Respondent 5:

Education is critical to him – rapid technological advances
– cultural lag in applicants that come forward, technology advances
exponentially and inversely with students who can use them, analytical
abilities not there, lack of motivation – problem with work ethic – no long
term goal setting – need to have desire to excel and overcome learning
shortfalls, lack of emphasis on why a solid education is important, students
need to have the tie in of what they are learning has relevance to the career
they choose, need to have long term goals and objectives instilled in kids
early, HS diploma doesn’t guarantee students have the skill sets to perform the
tasks, students having difficulty passing national exams, goes back to
elementary school and the parental support system – we need to look globally,
technology is just a small sliver – more emphasis needs to be placed on the
soft and human skills – need to have long term objectives and goals, need to
realize that college is not a universal goal

Respondent 6:

-emphasis on values and work ethic cant be overstated,
starts in preschool with the early education and early intervention, spend
years trying to catch up, in many cases they don’t have parents who are
educated and realize the importance of all of these skills, reading
comprehension and math are critically important need to have other skills
before you can really use the technology, people who don’t have the confidence
to learn the technology are always playing catch up need to be able to play
catch up through self-directed learning, we need to be teaching are children
make sure you have enough money to make good decision

Respondent 7:

Key barriers – high stakes accountability testing, when you
look at needed competencies that accountability hinders the changes in
curriculum and teaching practices needed to impact instruction, problem
solving, literacy numeracy, people are beginning to see the importance of that

What about the children who are not going to need 21st
century learning sk

Appendix C –
Categorization

After a round robin
discussion of barriers to 21st century learning, participants
tackled the task of coming up with proactive solutions and steps to addressing
those barriers. They were asked to think in terms of the questions: What’s
working now? What’s missing? What can individuals/organizations do? And other
innovative ideas not related to overcoming barriers.

Participants then
paired up to discuss their steps and find common ideas. After sharing in pairs,
participants organized their ideas with sticky notes under different
categories, from leadership development to finance and budget issues, among
others. After the steps were categorized, participants voted which categories
were most important or pressing. These ideas and categories, as well as the
weight each category received, are reprinted below.

Leadership Development - 16 Dots

·Empowerment

·Great leadership team

·What about kids who won’t need the tech (21st)
skills to make it in life?

·Rapid technological advances- cultural log to
utilize the advances need to have students

Cultural Awareness - 26 Dots

·Relationship building

·Give students an understanding of world

·Cultural awareness between teachers and students
who all “other”

·Involvement in local and global community

·Engage stakeholders in global conversations with
other cultures to learn from each other

·Solutions: 1. Create pen-pals in other countries
2. Websites/email/chat with foreign students live under dictatorship countries
3. Teach students about the unfortunate situation of children in other
countries 4. Invite representative of foreign student groups to speak on campus
5. Visit the countries of less fortunate children 6.create a textbook on the
lives of third world children

·Use other tools of assessments (e.g. something
different from SOLs) that don’t bog down actual creative teaching- make
classroom learning fascinating not repetitive.

·Basic computer classes in elementary schools

·Allow students to “educate” students

·Development of career pathways

·Expose our students to the human network by
giving them a chance to interact with others and the world around them
including the use of technology of course but also giving them the chance to
see the outside world physically not only on a screen

·Continue efforts toward differentiation of
technological learning

·Distribute lap tops to students

·Let kids finish course as they learn it and do
something more

Critical
Thinking - 10 Dots

·We need to teach critical thinking skills

·Focus on lifelong vs. finite/terminal degrees

Engagement
of Legislators/ Policy Makers - 9 Dots

·Work with state legislators and policy makers to
change ideas and needs of schools to prepare students

·Organizations, educators and community leaders
must be open to what works for individuals

·Teach openness-be open to new ideas

·Business leaders to help contribute to school
computers

·Create action plans centered around skills
needed for success in a society

Finance/Budget
- 4 Dots

·To look at the budget differently

·Rally public support for our public school
initiatives for 21st century technology

External
Resources - 4 Dots

·Apprentice programs

·Get rid of textbooks

·Lap tops to be signed out just like books

Character
Development (Soft Skills) - 2 Dots

·Missing: Soft skills, etc, needed in place?
Early development and continued emphasis

·What’s needed? Etiquette classes as a “required”
elective

Early
Childhood Education - 2 Dots

·More early childhood education

Set
the Stage-Defining

·Acceptance of change

·“21st century learning” needs to be
defined so that everyone can understand exactly what it is without
misunderstanding. Misunderstanding=fear=conflict=not productive. Must
understand in order to implement and be successful.

·Reduce the fear by giving a global definition of
21st century learning

Relevance
- 15 Dots

·Real world education. Relating curriculum to
jobs.

·Organizations make their needs as employers
known- join the conversation- help shape the education of their future work
force

·Establish a career emersion program to highlight
career opportunities in a non college career path- i.e. Fire Cadet Program

·Explore learning through collaboration with and
without use of technology

·Effort of teachers/administrators

·School districts are working together and
sharing ideas

·Open line of communication parent/teacher

·Now? Kids can “text” 24/7 and think it is the
best way to communicate

·Proliferation of virtual schools

·Communication between the community and school

·Home visits

Appendix D – Crafting
of Recommendations

As a final activity,
participants again formed their groups to craft specific recommendations for
the school system to address barriers to 21st century learning. Each
group’s notes and recommendations from this discussion are reprinted below.
Group B interviewed Rebiya Kadeer at the conference and their notes are
included in Appendix E.

Group A

Inventory the technological skills already available in the
division so that you can then identify the gaps.

Have students teach the teachers how they use technologies
and how they see these tools used in a classroom.

Allow teacher experts to train other teachers so that there
is no additional cost involved in the training.Also, the business community can provide in kind support by providing
training in these technologies.

Group C

Cultural Awareness:

Build cultural awareness by teaching educators and students
the facts of our global economy/community and infuse relevance into our
instruction.

Teach teachers understand how to build their own personal
learning online networks so it can them be disseminated to the students.

Teach students how to develop their own personal learning
networks – discriminate information

Use current technology to examine current events from
various world perspectives.– ie. Change
up the URLs to see what other countries’ perspectives are about the same issue.

Develop leadership network that includes administrators,
teachers, school staff, community and business leaders, and student leaders;
that collaboratively function as professional learning communities to address
and solve barriers to learning

Action Steps –
Option I

Research current models of PLC’s
and compare information

Develop a school and/or district
leadership team

Develop a clear communication
system to share information, etc. with all stakeholders

Empower leadership team members
and distribute leadership responsibilities

Build capacity within the
school/district that encourages and ensures sustainability

Action Steps –
Option I

Identify the stakeholders in the school community who should
be invited to participate in the network.

Identify barriers to the target

Empower members of the network to lead data collection
analyze the results to network and all stakeholders

Provide recommendations/approaches to solve the problem or
remove the barrier

Appendix E – Rebiya
Kadeer

Rebiya Kadeer, Chinese
businesswoman and political activist, attended the conference and participants
had a chance to work with her in a small group. Participants interviewed
Kadeer, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, about her life, which included being tried
and imprisoned in 1999 until 2005 when the United States pressured for her
release. The following are notes from that discussion.

Concept: Reform

We would die for freedom in China.I think that’s why your people take things
for granted.We take nothing for grant
in my culture.It’s a very unique
culture.We have our own music.In our culture women are trained to cook.We have respect for animals and we have
stories related to these animals imbedded in our culture.

The Chinese government could wipe us all out.People would be detained if they learned a
foreign language.By being
multi-cultural students can learn about any cultural.They have the opportunity and privilege.There are less then 1,000 Uyghurs in this
country.The government separated their
people throughout China to keep them from forming strength.Her two sons are in prison because of what
she is doing in this country.All her
grandchildren were kicked out of school.In China the entire family is punished when one family member does
something wrong.

Were you limited because of tracking or because you are a
female?I was limited because of my
families’ social class.

The government strips you naked of your freedom, your
religion, your rights to force you to become Chinese.The Chinese government is trying to wipe out
our language.

Professors, teachers, professionals were fired and forced to
become janitors or unemployed because they could not speak or teach in Chinese.

How was she able to create a business?When the former Chinese president was in
place he allowed for a few lower class citizens become business owners in an
attempt to become wealthy.

Appendix F – Panel
Discussion

An electronic global panel discussion kicked off the day’s
events with an impressive group of thought leaders from Scotland, Thailand, and
the U.S. logging in to Elluminate, a webinar software platform, to share their
ideas and answer questions.

Received this today and believe in the work. Thought I would share with you.I am writing on behalf of Academy
Award-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth, co-founder of 826 National Nínive
Calegari, and writer Dave Eggers. They are the Director and
Co-Producers of the feature-length documentary The Teacher Salary
Project. We wanted to reach out to you in the hopes that you may be
interested in getting involved in our production.

The Teacher
Salary Project will be a documentary film, a national outreach
campaign, and the only digital archive of the stories of teachers'
lives. In the end we will have a community-built movement that tells
the true stories of hardworking and effective teachers in order to
change the public perception, support, and financial rewards that
accompany the invaluable work of teaching. The film is based on a book
co-authored by Nínive Calegari, Daniel Moulthrop and Dave Eggers called
Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers. You can read a Washington Post review of the book here <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062301562_pf.html> .

We are excited to invite first-hand stories/ footage filmed by students
about their public school teachers and the struggles of being a
teacher. In this spirit, we are looking for public school teachers to
help get their students involved. We found your name in searching for
teachers that have already done some work with film or digital
storytelling in the classroom, and hope that you would be interested in
becoming part of this new and exciting way of filmmaking.

If you think this is something that you might be
interested in helping with, or if you could perhaps suggest others who
you think might be interested, please let us know. I look forward to
hearing from you.

Best regards,

Emily Davis Production Assistant The Teacher Salary Project

FROM THEIR WEBSITE

CREATE A VIDEO DOCUMENTARY

.

We want to include your story in our film!

The Teacher Salary Project is all about giving YOU the voice to share
your own personal story and connect with others so we can help our
nation’s strongest teachers become even better.

We are especially looking for video submissions from teachers who have
had to take on second and third jobs to be able to keep up their
"teaching habit". Bring the video camera to your other jobs, tell us
about the other work you do and what keeps you teaching.

We are also looking for videos made by students - Click here
for more student info. Tell us about a teacher who changed your life,
or interview your teacher and submit the interview to us! (click here for some questions you might ask)

Here are three ways that you can contribute:

Option One:
Film yourself with you own camera and create a “video journal.”
Then
give us a call at (415) 963-4344 and we'll tell you where to send it.

Don’t forget to print out and sign a release form (click here) and send it with your tapes.

Option Two:
Directly upload your videos for others to see. Go to the Teacher Salary Project’s YouTube Channel (here),
watch one of our videos, and then join the conversation by clicking on
the “post video response” link found under the “commentary” tab on each
video’s webpage. Then subscribe to our YouTube channel so you’ll
receive all of our new videos. For technical help with uploading your
videos to YouTube, click here.

Option Three:
Call us at (415) 963-4344 and leave a message explaining your story or
circumstance so that we can contact you directly.

Again, we want YOUR input and YOUR perspective, so be creative with your camera and tell us your story!

February 06, 2009

Community. Whether it is 50 kids at a hardcore show screaming along the lyrics to a local band's song, a really encouraging comment thread on a messageboard, or an art opening that just blows you away, I think that connecting with other humans who share your interests, passions and beliefs is the most powerful thing ever. When you feel like you are part of something that matters, it encourages you to push yourself harder to make your contribution to that community really count. You become a better and more creative person in the process.

I couldn't agree more. Community is the venue through which creativity can be fueled. Just think-- if we rethought classrooms and made them into communities that produced students who felt this way about learning-- what a difference we could make. At PLP we too feel like teachers who learn in communities become part of something bigger than themselves and that something results in meaningful change and deep personal growth. Community is the best hope we have for re-culturing education.

January 26, 2009

In this new year many of us have promised ourselves to try and find more balance in our lives. I personally vowed to spend more time connected with the earth through hiking, walking on the beach, and playing hard with my four 20-something kids. And yet with all of the meaningful work I am engaged in online I often find it difficult to unplug. How does one balance their personal and professional lives, especially while living in a world where often those in the communities to which I belong contribute to a significant part of my personal growth and constitute a great deal of the human interaction I receive each day? How do I draw the line in the sand between have-tos and want-tos when because of the personalness of the connections the lines have become grayed?

TECHNOLOGY CAN HELPSome folks tell me that if I buy the Life Balance software for iPhone and
iPod touch that it will help a multi-tasking mobile professional like me who struggles to keep up with
the demands of their busy life. Life Balance(TM) is personal coaching software that
helps you to decide what to work on, so that you can put your effort
into the goals, projects and tasks that really matter to you.

Scott Elias, Expert Voice in the New Jersey cohort of Powerful Learning Practice is looking closely at this issue of balancing our real and virtual lives. He gives a powerful tip for keeping up with the deluge of email you are receiving. "First,if the very idea of having an empty inbox sounds absurd to you, check out Merlin Mann's "Inbox Zero" series (complete with a video
of a talk he gave at Google). The most useful idea I took away from
this series if the idea of scheduling short email "dashes" where you
process what you've got and move on."

Scott also shares a tool for helping to managing your "to-do" tasks called Remember the Milk. Scott likes RTM (as those "in the know" call it) because adding tasks is
super-simple. "You can add directly from the web interface, you can
follow @rtm
on Twitter and "Tweet" tasks to yourself from your cell phone, or you
can email single tasks or lists of tasks to a special, top-secret RTM
email address. Once you've sent your tasks, they show up in your inbox."

Technology is willing and able to help us keep us organized and accountable. More than ever before we have the knowledge management tools to help us keep up! Such as these--

So we have to ask ourselves is technology the problem when it can provide so many solutions? Or does true balance come from somewhere else?

My superintendent, a wise man indeed, once told me that technology only gives the illusion of saving time because we quickly fill the time we save with new tasks resulting in our professional lives being even busier than before. In many ways I think his perception is true. It as if we have this empty void we are all trying to fill. We are all looking for that sense of purpose in knowing what we are doing will matter in the end. It is the struggle of balancing the tension of change- wanting change, realizing that something different is needed and yet being terrified of losing something valuable in the long run. John Connell once told me that it isn't change we fear, but loss.

ARE WE FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THING?

Stephen Downes says, "The difference between the physical and the virtual is illusory -
it is a distinction that has been marketed hard by companies that want
to keep selling you paper. But the virtual is the physical - the people
online are real, the computers are real, the impact of your words is
real, and it all happens in the physical world to people with physical
bodies."

Maybe that is why balance is so hard to achieve? Maybe we have been focusing on the wrong thing? Maybe the tension isn't between balancing our real and virtual lives, but more about balance in life in general? What I do online is very much a part of my real life. I am building real connections with people around the world from whom I am learning a great deal. My life is richer and I am a better person because of the relationships I have built online. The work I do is purposeful and meaningful and very much a part of my real life. Maybe the answer to making it all work comes in understanding how to integrate it all and realizing that by letting go (change) I will have loss, but what will follow will make me more effective in reaching my big picture goals. The secret is realizing that virtual is part of our real world now and it can't be thought of as "one more thing" added to our already impossible day, but rather it needs to become a seamless, embedded part of our normal day. Kind of like how families adapt when a new child is born. Somehow we find time to incorporate all the new things that have to be done in caring for a baby into our busy lives. We fumble at first thinking we will never adapt and then before you know it is becomes "business as usual."

I look forward to learning with you this year as together we try and find balance in our lives and turn business as unusual to business as usual.